Joe Jackson (born David Ian Jackson; 11 August 1954) is a British musician, singer and songwriter. Having spent years studying music and playing clubs, he found success as part of the late 1970s new wave scene with hit singles "Is She Really Going Out with Him?" from his first album Look Sharp! (1979) and "It's Different for Girls" from second album I'm the Man (1979). In the 1980s, he moved to a more jazz-pop style, and achieved further hits including "Steppin' Out" from the album Night and Day (1982) and "You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)" from the album Body and Soul (1984). During this period, Jackson became associated with the 1980s Second British Invasion of the US.
He has also composed classical music and has received five Grammy Award nominations.
Early life, family and education
Born David Ian Jackson in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England, he spent his first year in nearby Swadlincote, Derbyshire. He was raised in the Paulsgrove area of Portsmouth, where he attended Portsmouth Technical High School. At age 11, he began learning to play the violin, but after a couple of years he switched to the piano, and convinced his father to purchase one for their Paulsgrove council house. Jackson and his parents moved to nearby Gosport when he was a teenager. Jackson began playing piano in bars when he was 16. He won a scholarship at age 18 to study musical composition at London's Royal Academy of Music, where his composition teacher was Richard Stoker.
Jackson's first band, Edward Bear, later renamed Arms and Legs, released two unsuccessful singles, then dissolved in 1976. Still known as David Jackson during his time with the band, he picked up the nickname "Joe" based on his perceived resemblance to the British television puppet character Joe 90, a genius child spy. Jackson legally changed his first name to Joe at age 20. Jackson then spent some time performing on the cabaret circuit to make money to record a demo.
In 1978, a record producer heard Jackson's demo tape and signed him to A&M Records. The next year, the newly formed Joe Jackson Band released their debut album, Look Sharp!. The band consisted of Jackson, Gary Sanford on guitar, Graham Maby on bass, and David Houghton on drums. A mix of rock, melodic jazz, and new wave, it mined a vein similar to contemporaries Elvis Costello and Graham Parker. The album enjoyed wide critical success: in 2013, Rolling Stone magazine named Look Sharp! No. 98 in a list of the 100 best debut albums of all time. Some commercial success also followed, as the debut single "Is She Really Going Out with Him?" reached the top 40 in five countries, and No. 9 in Canada.
The Joe Jackson Band released I'm the Man in 1979. The album followed a similar musical pattern; further, it received good, though not as strong, reviews. It did produce the single "It's Different for Girls", which became Jackson's highest charting UK single, peaking at No. 5. Beat Crazy followed in 1980. Jackson also collaborated with Lincoln Thompson in reggae crossover.
The Joe Jackson Band toured extensively until it broke up at the end of 1980; Houghton, weary of touring and fame, left the band that year. Although Maby continued to work with Jackson in the following decades, the full band would not reunite until 2004's Volume 4.
In 1981, Jackson produced an album for the British power pop group the Keys. The Keys Album was the group's only LP.
After the Joe Jackson Band disbanded, Jackson recorded Jumpin' Jive, an album of old-style swing and blues tunes. It included songs by Cab Calloway, Lester Young, Glenn Miller, and Louis Jordan. The album and associated single release were credited to "Joe Jackson's Jumpin' Jive".
Jackson's 1982 album, Night and Day, was his only studio album to chart in the UK and US Top 10, peaking at No. 3 (UK) and at No. 4 (US). Two singles released from the album, "Steppin' Out" and "Breaking Us in Two", were US top 20 hits. The tracks "Real Men" and "A Slow Song" referred obliquely to New York City's early 1980s gay culture, critiquing its exclusiveness and asking for a slow song in the disco respectively. "Real Men" also became a top 10 hit in Australia.
By 1984, New York had become Jackson's home base. He recorded Body and Soul there, an album he later said was "from the point of view of a relative newcomer". Heavily influenced by pop, jazz standards and salsa, it had the US No. 15 hit single "You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)".
In 1985, Jackson played piano on Joan Armatrading's album Secret Secrets, including the single "Love by You", and in 1986 he collaborated with Suzanne Vega on the single "Left of Center" from Pretty in Pink's soundtrack. Jackson's next album was Big World, with all-new songs recorded live in front of an audience instructed to remain silent while music was playing. Released in 1986, it was a three-sided double record; the fourth side consisted of a single centering groove and a label stating "there is no music on this side".
The instrumental album Will Power (1987), with heavy classical and jazz influences, set the stage for things to come later, but before Jackson left pop behind, he released two more albums, Blaze of Glory (which he performed in its entirety during the subsequent tour) and Laughter & Lust. In 1995, Jackson contributed his version of "Statue of Liberty" on A Testimonial Dinner: The Songs of XTC, a tribute album for the English band XTC.
In the late 1990s, Jackson expanded into classical music; he signed with Sony Classical in 1997 and released Symphony No. 1 in 1999, for which he received a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Album in 2001. In 2000, he released a follow-up album, Night and Day II. The album featured contributions by Graham Maby (bass), Sue Hadjopoulos (percussion), the string quartet Ethel, and three guest vocalists: Sussan Deyhim, Dale De Vere and Marianne Faithfull.
In 2003, he reunited his original quartet for the album Volume 4, and a lengthy tour. In 2004, he contributed vocals to a cover of Pulp's "Common People" with William Shatner for Shatner's album Has Been (produced by Ben Folds). In 2005, he teamed up with Todd Rundgren and the string quartet Ethel for a tour of the US and Europe. A dedicated smoker, he gave up his New York apartment in 2006 partly in protest over the ascendancy of smoking bans, and made the Berlin neighbourhood Kreuzberg his new home. It was there that he recorded, with longtime collaborators Graham Maby and Dave Houghton, his eighteenth studio album, Rain (Rykodisc, January 2008); the album was followed by a five-month tour.
In 2015, Jackson announced the completion of his follow-up to 2012's The Duke via his official website. The album's title, Fast Forward, and track list were confirmed in addition to North American tour dates. The titular first single was released for streaming via his official SoundCloud page. The entire record was briefly posted before being taken down a day later.
On 18 January 2019, Jackson released the album Fool. Jackson said about the album on his website: "One of my inspirations for this album was the band I've been touring with on and off for the last 3 years. I've had many different line-ups but this one is special." Jackson and the band performed "Fabulously Absolute" on The Tonight Show on 21 January 2019. Fool debuted in the top 20 album charts in Holland, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland. In the US, it debuted at No. 25 on Billboard's Top Album Sales Chart. In the UK, it entered the Indie Albums Chart at No. 13.